Biden arrives in Peru for international summit and meeting with Xi as world leaders prepare for Trump

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Pres Joe Biden arrived in Peru on Thursday to start his six-day visit to Latin America for the last major international summits of his presidency, even as world leaders turn their attention to what Donald Trump’s returning to the White House means for their countries.

The visit to Economic cooperation in Asia and the Pacific summit in Peru and stops in Amazon rainforest and at the summit of 20 leaders in Brazil, offer Biden one of his last chances as president to meet with heads of state he has worked with over the years.

But the eyes of world leaders are fixed on Trump.

They already are burning up Trump’s phone with congratulatory speeches. At least one leader, the president of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, dusts off his golf clubs, should the chance to bond with the golf-loving Trump present itself.

White House officials insist Biden’s visit will be substantial, with talks on climate issues, global infrastructure, counter-narcotics and one-on-one meetings with global leaders, including China’s President Xi Jinpingand a joint meeting with South Korea’s Yoon and the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The meeting with Yoon and Ishiba was supposed to be aimed at reinforcing the progress made since theirs initial meeting last yearWhite House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Air Force One. That includes tightening security and economic cooperation amid increasingly tense relations with China and North Korea.

It would also be an opportunity for them to discuss North Korean troops going to Russia to help with the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said.

He says the Biden administration is working to ensure the tri-nation meeting is “an enduring feature of American politics.” He expects that to continue under Trump, noting its bipartisan support but acknowledging that it was up to the incoming president’s team.

Biden’s trip to South America comes the day after he met with Trump at the White House. The extensive discussion touched on conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine.

“I wanted — I asked — for his views and he gave them to me,” Trump told The New York Post after his conversation with Biden.

Sullivan indicated that White House officials are also making clear to Trump’s team that the delicate relationship between the United States and China is the “overriding priority of the incoming administration.”

He emphasized the risks if stability in the Taiwan Strait is raised: “It would be disastrous for everyone involved – for Taiwan, for Beijing, for us, for the world,” he said. “Because of the magnitude of the risk, even though it’s not that likely, it’s something that needs to be at the top of the agenda.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and vows to annex it – by force if necessary. The United States is Taiwan’s biggest unofficial ally and is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Trump nominates the noted China hawk for key positions: Florida Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz for his national security adviser.

The White House had been working for months to arrange the meeting with Xi, whose country is America’s most prominent economic and national security competitor.

For Xi, Trump’s campaign promise to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports will be front and center. White House officials declined to comment in detail about how Biden will approach talks with Xi and other world leaders about Trump.

Those officials say Biden will also use the summits to press allies to maintain support for Ukraine as it tries to stave off Russia’s invasion and not losing sight of ending the wars in Lebanon and Gaza. It includes the return of hostages that Hamas has held for more than 13 months.

Between the summits, Biden will visit the Amazon rainforest, the first visit by a sitting US president.

James Bosworth, founder of Latin America-focused political consulting firm Hxagon, said Biden will use one of his last big moments in the international spotlight “to reassure the world that power transitions are normal for democracies.”

“Biden will receive public applause and praise, even as world leaders nervously await the transition,” Bosworth said.

Biden’s meeting with Xi is likely to be the most consequential moment of the US president’s time in South America.

Biden has tried to maintain a stable relationship with Xi, even as the US administration has repeatedly raised concerns about what it sees as malign action by Beijing.

US intelligence officials have assessed that China has increased sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology used by Moscow to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weapons for use against Ukraine. The Biden administration last month imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies accused of directly helping Russia build long-range attack drones.

Tensions flared last year after Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon crossing the intercontinental US. And the Biden administration has criticized Chinese military assertiveness toward Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.

During the campaign, Trump talked about his personal connection with Xi, which started well during the Republican’s first term before becoming strained over disputes over trade and the origins of COVID-19.

In a congratulatory message to Trump, Xi urged the United States and China to deal with their differences and come to terms in a new era, according to Chinese state media.

Biden finds himself in a similar position to when then-President Barack Obama traveled to Peru in 2016 for the annual APEC leaders’ meeting shortly after Trump’s first White House victory.

World leaders peppered Obama with questions about what Trump’s victory would mean.

“His message was to wait and see … because we didn’t know Donald Trump,” said Victor Cha, a National Security Council official in the George W. Bush administration. “Now we’re in a very different situation, knowing what the first Trump administration was like.”

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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.